Three days later, Chirrissk was walking without the sling.
It still limped—favoring the leg—but it moved with purpose now, weaving between huts like it had lived there all its life. The children kept their distance at first. Even the bold ones. But they watched. Whispered. Dared each other to get close.
Toren didn't encourage it. He just let the beast be.
He noticed things.
Chirrissk never got too close to the fire pits. Never snapped at anyone. It tracked motion with uncanny precision but kept its tail low, its claws tight against the dirt. When it passed the food stores, it didn't sniff or lunge or beg—it patrolled. As if it understood the edges of its world.
It also followed him. Always. Silent as a shadow.
And when Mira muttered about "predatory instincts," Toren just smiled and said, "That's what I like about it."
The moment that changed everything came on a muggy afternoon.
Toren was out by the north field, checking a faulty pump near the berry trays, when a scream cut through the clearing.
Child.
He turned. Sprinting before his thoughts caught up. Chirrissk was already gone—just a blur of feather and fang shooting past him.
By the time he reached the far hut, the scene was chaos. One of the younger boys—Faylen, barely six—was curled against the woodpile, sobbing. A crawler, fat and slick with venom, had uncoiled itself inches from the child's foot. A hiss built in its throat—needle-teeth bared.
Then a flash of movement.
A crunch.
Chirrissk's jaws closed around the crawler's body and ripped it back.
One snap. One shake.
It was over.
The creature dropped the corpse at Toren's feet, then backed away two steps and crouched, tail sweeping slowly across the dirt. Eyes forward. Calm. Waiting.
The boy clung to the wall, crying—but unhurt.
A long silence fell.
Then someone clapped.
Then another.
Soon, half the village was watching, and no one was shouting. No one was pointing a spear. They just stared.
And then they nodded.
One by one, they nodded.
That night, the system spoke quietly.
Subtask complete.Chirrissk bonded.Loyal Companion acquired.Passive bonus: Fear Radius -10% (settlement morale buff).New title unlocked: Beast-Tamer (Lv. 1)
Toren stood at the edge of the firelight, watching the creature sleep under the awning near his hut, its tail curled against its body like a resting cat.
Mira joined him with two cups of tea.
"He saved that kid," she said.
"I know."
"Still don't trust him."
"You trust me?"
She sipped. "You keep making it harder not to."
Toren didn't reply.
He just looked at the stars.
And whispered, "Welcome to the kingdom."